Albany street trees are in decline.Homeowners should plant the nextgeneration of suitable street treesthat can tolerate the excessive amountsof road salt spread by DGS on citystreets every winter.Trees not only beautify our properties.Trees provide shade in summer andwindbreaks in winter. Trees absorbcarbon dioxide and emit oxygen whichcombats air pollution by improvingair quality.

Mater Christi Church/School treesare in decline. Replacement treesshould be planted now, before existingtrees are no more.

The Greenway Common trees arein decline. Some present a hazardfrom falling limbs. Greenway neighborsought to get together and plant avariety of suitable replacement trees.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Dangerous dead trees overhangingthe footpath between Euclid andLenox, South side, have been cutdown.

The eroded footpath at Euclidis patched with blue stone rockflour, which will easily wash awaywith the next heavy rains.

Litter has been picked up alongRafts Way and around the silting pond. Dumped yard wastes remain.Replacement trees need plantingbordering the road because existingSycamores have been damaged by road salt.http://www.umass.edu/urbantree/factsheets/18roadsalttrees.html

Walking along the North Shorefrom the foot of Euclid to thepicnic area. blue green algaeblooms can be observed in thein the shallow water a few feet offshore.A mild winter and amplesun light allowed the bloomsto winter over and thrive. Theblooms are sure to be a problemthis year, especially when therun off of lawn chemicals fromhomes in the pond watershedpeaks.

The wooded path South sidebetween Lenox and Holmes Daleneeds a lot of work. Cut vinesthat are killing trees. A lot ofdead wood could be cut andstacked at Holmes Dale foruse as firewood by local residents.The footpath at Holmes Dale isbadly eroded.

The young Willow growingnear the foot of Lenox, NorthSide looks great.

More young willows and redosier dogwoods need to be planted to stabilize and reduceshoreline erosion and slumpingwhich is gradually filling the pondcreating shallow water wheresun light, road salt and lawnchemical run off combine to form an environment where algae bloomsthrive.

All residents are members of the BPCNA.There are no dues. We work through acommittee and individual assignmentsystem.

Neighborhood residents are invitedand urged to participate.

2016 Agenda

1. a- Get the City of Albany to reduce the speed limit on all neighborhood residential streets to 25 mph and strictly enforce the speed limit - b- prohibit passing on the right in curb parking lanes on New Scotland Avenue- c-strictly enforce all vehicle/traffic laws

2. Oppose any zoning/ use changes not permitted in our R-1b single family residential pursuant to the existing Albany City Zoning Code. This includes responding to any attempt to reverse the Supreme Court Decision annulling the BZA approval of a change of use for 738 New Scotland Avenue to serve as a "hub/home base" for the not for profit homeless social services entity known as Family Promise of the Capital District . And any attempts to otherwise modify the provisions of the Code sections pertaining to uses permitted in R-1b single family residential districts.3. Get the City to move on completing the Dan O Connell Memorial Pocket Park on the 3/4 acre brownfield parcel at Whitehall/New Scotland.

This includes creation of a rolling berm, planted with a variety of trees and flowering shrubs, a flag pole, some benches and a small stone marker.

4. Get the City to move on creation of a neighborhood greenbelt including a 10 acre parcel and land locked 5 acre parcel owned by the City bordering Crescent Drive and a 7 acre privately owned parcel along Krum Kill Rd behind the Mobil Station.

Use a Transfer of Development Rights arrangement to include the 7 acre parcel. Compensate the private owners by awarding them an equivalent parcel of equal value, downtown. which they may develop or sell for development. 5. Promote resident participation and City cooperation in efforts to maintain street trees, remove dead limbs/trees and plant a variety of replacement trees suitable for urban conditions including vehicle emissions and road salt.6. Improve City snow plowing procedures and reduce/eliminate road salt use, particularly in the Buckingham Pond Park Watershed, and along New Scotland Avenue.7. Promote resident awareness of the need for emergency/ disaster preparedness by individuals, households, apartments, senior citizen housing and single family homes.8. Oppose any attempts to privatize the municipal Capital Hills Golf Course

9. Support legal action to annul the results of the February 9 2016 190+ million dollar high school bond act.

10. Homeowners are urged to challenge the 2016 City reassessment notices which they received in March. Contact the City Assessor's office regarding how, where and when to do your challenge. May is the month to do this.

11. May 19 is the vote on the Albany School budget. Cast informed votes.

12. Vote in the April 19 Presidential Primary.

13. Vote in the Congressional Primary in June and NYS /local primaries in September.

14. Closely monitor agendas/actions of the Albany Common Council City Board of Zoning Appeals City Planning Board and other city initiatives as they relate to the BPCNA.

15. Improve Crestwood Plaza neighborhood shopping

Now, there is a solid agenda for ourneighborhood.

Pass the word. Download and sharethis post with your family, friendsneighbors who are not on line.

We don't do door to door newsletterdrops as we did for so many years inthe past.

This website is where you can findout what is going on in the hood.

Contact me and we can discuss/arrangeyour participation in one, or more ofthe above.

Combining Epigenetic and Immunotherapy to Combat CancerThe
most exciting recent advance for achieving durable management of
advanced human cancers is immunotherapy, especially the concept of
immune checkpoint blockade. However, with the exception of melanoma,
most patients do not respond to immunotherapy alone. A growing body of
work has shown that epigenetic drugs, specifically DNA methyltransferase
inhibitors, can upregulate immune signaling in epithelial cancer cells
through demethylation of endogenous retroviruses and cancer testis
antigens. These demethylating agents may induce T-cell attraction and
enhance immune checkpoint inhibitor efficacy in mouse models.
- cancerres.aacrjournals.org

Heal: The Vital Role of Dogs in the Search for Cancer CuresHeal: The Vital Role of Dogs in the Search for Cancer Cures
Arlene Weintraub's book explores a topic in cancer not often
discussed: the drug development process and its effects on both people
and dogs.
What do dogs have to do with cancer research? “Heal,” which
chronicles one woman’s research journey across the United States,
explains that dogs get some of the same cancers as people, and, in
veterinary clinical trials, have been among the first to try new types
of medications that were eventually approved for both dogs and humans.
- curetoday.comRead more

More Reflections on the SeaWorld AgreementToday,
SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby and I sent a letter to President Obama urging
him to use a wide range of diplomatic tools to pressure Japan to end its
commercial whaling activities and to stop contravening international
law by slaughtering hundreds of innocent whales. Manby has assured me
that this is just a first indicator of SeaWorld's new commitment to
advocacy on marine animal protection efforts, and that the company will
join with anti-whaling advocates to finish off the era of commercial
whaling on our planet.
- huffingtonpost.comRead more

ABOUT VETERINARY ONCOLOGY SERVICESVeterinary
Oncology Services is the only center involved in advanced cancer
treatment with DNA cancer treatment vaccines and Electrochemotherapy
(targeting the cancer and offering a significant advantage in reducing
drug dosages and not harming healthy tissue). We routinely see clients
from all over New York state and from as far away as Canada and Florida.
Dr. Impellizeri is also a Visiting Scholar at Vassar College in
Poughkeepsie, NY in the Department of Biology. We can be reached at:

Cat Survives 8 Days In Box After Owner Accidentally Mails Her Across EnglandCupcake is an incredibly lucky cat.
The Siamese survived being stuck inside a small box for eight days after her owner accidentally put her in the post.
Julie Bagott didn’t spot her pet snoozing inside the parcel as she
packed it with DVDs at her home in Falmouth, in southwest England. Then
she dropped the box in the mail.
After traveling for 260 miles, Cupcake arrived in Worthing, West Sussex, on the other side of the country.
Grove Lodge Veterinary Group on Thursday
The package’s recipients were stunned to open the box and find the cute cat curled up alongside the movies they’d bought.
- huffingtonpost.comRead more

Protecting your pet from RabiesKNOXVILLE,
Tenn. (WVLT) -- Rabies is an easily preventable disease but Tennessee
has seen at least 4 confirmed cases in dogs since January of this year.
In the United States one to two people die annually from rabies but it
kills more than 55,000 people worldwide each year. In 2012, there were
6,000 reported cases of animal rabies in the United States alone.
Rabies is a deadly virus that attacks the nervous system. The virus
is spread through saliva and is usually transmitted to people and
animals by a bite from an infected animal.
- local8now.comRead more

Vietnam veteran struggling with PTSD saved by death row dog — Pets For Patriots BlogEd
is a Vietnam veteran and former Army Sergeant. After decades of coping
with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and at the encouragement of
his wife, he saved – and is saved by – an adult dog on death row. Thanks
to our partnership with Macomb County Animal Shelter for helping us
make Ed’s story possible; this is his letter to us.
I am retired. In 1967-69, I was in the US Army, and did a year in
Viet Nam as a recon scout. My year there gave me a lifetime full of bad
memories and the stuff that nightmares are made of.
- blog.petsforpatriots.orgRead more

Giorgio Armani Goes Fur-FreeGood news for cuddly animals and the people who love them!
Luxury clothing designer Giorgio Armani announced today that his
labels will be 100 percent fur-free, starting with the autumn/winter
2016 collections.
The brand pledged to go fur-free after working with the Humane
Society of the U.S. and the Fur Free Alliance, a coalition of 40 animal
protection organizations in 28 countries working to end the fur trade.
“I am pleased to announce that the Armani Group has made a firm
commitment to abolish the use of animal fur in its collections,” the
Italian designer said in a statement released by the HSUS.
- huffingtonpost.comRead more

Processed Pet Food — Biologically Inappropriate for Your PetNot
long ago I ran across a headline in a pet food industry journal that
gave me a chuckle. It read, "More Americans consider raw pet diets amid
safety issues: Sales of raw pet food have increased sharply".1 I'm
smiling because it seems the best efforts of the U.S. Federal Drug
Administration (FDA), the American Veterinary Medical Association
(AVMA), the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), many
board-certified veterinary nutritionists, and a variety of other pet
food industry organizations and individual special interest groups to
scare people away from raw pet diets aren't having the intended effect.
- healthypets.mercola.comRead more

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Homeowners don't forgetto challenge your newassessments. Pay attention to yourschool taxes, in particularand the fate of the challengeto the results of the February9, 2016 vote on the high schoolreconstruction plan.

http://www.albanyschools.org/district/communications/DistrictNews/2015-16/RebuildingAHS_SBe sure to vote May 17.